Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 14 of 14

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Sanctuary Cities? Asylum? Dreamers? When A House Is Not A Home: The Legal And Socioeconomic Implications Of National Populism On Local Governance And Individual Liberties, Rawle Andrews Jr., Sanchita Bose May 2020

Sanctuary Cities? Asylum? Dreamers? When A House Is Not A Home: The Legal And Socioeconomic Implications Of National Populism On Local Governance And Individual Liberties, Rawle Andrews Jr., Sanchita Bose

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Since the 1950s, the U.S. has proudly boasted itself as "a nation of immigrants," However, immigration reform is amongst the most intensely confusing, divisive, and polarizing issues in America's public square. Immigration remains front and center in the public debate across the U.S., especially since the September 11th terrorist attacks. The fear and turmoil, which ebbed and flowed since the 9/11 tragedy, reached a boiling point during the 2016 general election cycle, and ultimately the election of the 45th president, Donald J. Trump. This article examines the impact and implications of a broken federal government on America's cities which are …


Toward A Just System For Juveniles, Karl A. Racine, Elizabeth Wilkins Mar 2019

Toward A Just System For Juveniles, Karl A. Racine, Elizabeth Wilkins

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Each year as a nation we prosecute over 800,000 children-nearly three percent of the juvenile population2 and detain over 200,000 of them.3 That is, we saddle almost three percent of our youth with the experience of being a defendant in court, with the label of delinquency. And we separate over a quarter of those youth from family and community for some period of time. The overwhelming majority of these children have experienced life-altering trauma in their young lives, and these experiences with the juvenile justice system can exacerbate that trauma.4 Yet,while we are affecting our young people on this massive …


The Social Maladjustment Exclusion: Leaving A Category Of Students Behind And The Problem With State And Judicial Interpretation Of Congressional Intent, Carolyn Mason Mar 2016

The Social Maladjustment Exclusion: Leaving A Category Of Students Behind And The Problem With State And Judicial Interpretation Of Congressional Intent, Carolyn Mason

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Since its inception in 1975, controversy surrounding the Social Maladjustment Exclusion has plagued its understnding. This paper delves deeper into the controversy and explores jurisdictional and nationwide patterns in the judicial interpretation of the social maladjustment exclusion. This analysis further demonstrates how the evolving interpretation of social maladjustment is out of touch with the needs of vulnerable youth in our schools and society, and may be based, in large measure, on a small group of non-representative plaintiffs.


Reversing The School-To-Prison Pipeline: Initial Findings From The District Of Columbia On The Efficacy Of Training And Mobilizing Court-Appointed Lawyers To Use Special Education Advocacy On Behalf Of At-Risk Youth, Kylie Scholefield, Joseph B. Tulman Mar 2015

Reversing The School-To-Prison Pipeline: Initial Findings From The District Of Columbia On The Efficacy Of Training And Mobilizing Court-Appointed Lawyers To Use Special Education Advocacy On Behalf Of At-Risk Youth, Kylie Scholefield, Joseph B. Tulman

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

This article will describe the implementation and analyze the results of an attorney training and mobilizing project of the Juvenile and Special Education Law Clinic (Clinic) 1 of the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC-DCSL).2 This project was premised in part on the notion that many of the children caught in the District of Columbia's school-to-prison pipeline have disabilities that significantly affect their ability to learn, and that many of these children therefore encounter, more than other children, conflict with school personnel and failure in school. These children disproportionately repeat grades, face school …


Civil Protection Orders: Increased Access And Narrowed Enforcement, Courtney Cross Mar 2015

Civil Protection Orders: Increased Access And Narrowed Enforcement, Courtney Cross

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

The statute governing civil protection orders in the District of Columbia is the Intrafamily Offenses Act,1 which has been in effect since 1970.2 This statute has been amended frequently over the past 45 years. While some of these changes have been clerical3 or procedural,4 there have also been substantive amendments which, inter alia,significantly expand both who may file for a protection order and what remedies that petitioner may request and receive. Yet this expansion has coincided with an intense scaling back by the judiciary of who can prosecute alleged violations of protection orders. While the statute continues to enable more …


The Struggle To Rise Above The Shadows Before Sunset: A Critical Discussion On The Need To Lift The Expiration And Renewal Requirements Of Daca And Dapa, Anna Oguntimein Mar 2015

The Struggle To Rise Above The Shadows Before Sunset: A Critical Discussion On The Need To Lift The Expiration And Renewal Requirements Of Daca And Dapa, Anna Oguntimein

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Reasoning that judicial economy is best served when a law enforcement agency determines how to expend its limited enforcemen tresources, the Supreme Court has held that the decision to exercise prosecutorial discretion is presumptively unreviewable.1 In the realm of immigration law, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the recently announced Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) promote the goal of judicial economy by imposing a freeze on the deportation of eligible noncitizens who either entered the United States as children or who have a child who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident …


Lessons Unlearned: The Effects Of Statutory Ambiguity And The Interpretative Uncertainty It Injects In The Courts, Carolyn Singh Mar 2015

Lessons Unlearned: The Effects Of Statutory Ambiguity And The Interpretative Uncertainty It Injects In The Courts, Carolyn Singh

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

For centuries, courts have dealt with the challenge of imposing penalties for crimes when governing law changes. Applying the new provisions can be a straightforward exercise for courts, but when legislatures are ambiguous with regard to which law applies-forexample, to pending cases-the courts are forced to interpret what legislatures intended. For some judges, the answer is easily found in the plain meaning of the text. For others, legislative intent can become the deciding factor. Throughout United States history, this has been a manageable yet controversial task, but aside from interpretive differences among judges, creating laws with uncertainty is a dangerous …


Gideon Is My Co-Pilot: The Promise Of Civil Right To Counsel Pilot Programs, Clare Pastore Mar 2014

Gideon Is My Co-Pilot: The Promise Of Civil Right To Counsel Pilot Programs, Clare Pastore

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

In recent years, access to justice and civil right to counsel advocates have taken a strong interest in pilot programs to test the cost and effectiveness of increasing the availability of counsel to low-income civil litigants. An eighteen-month privately-funded housing counsel pilot in two Boston courts has recently concluded and a new housing pilot is about to begin in three different Massachusetts courts. Pilots are also ongoing or in late stages of development in several other states. The most ambitious pilot program to date is the multi-year, multi-county pilot project underway in California pursuant to the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel …


The Politics Of Exclusion In California's Marijuana Reform Movement, Brooke Mascagni Sep 2011

The Politics Of Exclusion In California's Marijuana Reform Movement, Brooke Mascagni

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.


A Decade After Drug Decriminalization: What Can The United States Learn From The Portuguese Model?, Jordan Blair Woods Sep 2011

A Decade After Drug Decriminalization: What Can The United States Learn From The Portuguese Model?, Jordan Blair Woods

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.


Again And Again We Suffer: The Poor And The Endurance Of The "War On Drugs", Brian Gilmore Sep 2011

Again And Again We Suffer: The Poor And The Endurance Of The "War On Drugs", Brian Gilmore

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.


What Would It Look Like If We Cared About Narcotics Trafficking? An Argument To Attack Narcotics Capital Rather Than Labor, Mark Osler Sep 2011

What Would It Look Like If We Cared About Narcotics Trafficking? An Argument To Attack Narcotics Capital Rather Than Labor, Mark Osler

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Law enforcement actions should be judged by a simple measure: are they solving a problem? After all, we Americans loathe the loss of freedom and the spending of tax dollars, and we should never take away citizens' freedom and money unless there actually is a problem being solved. Illegal narcotics are a problem, but we aren't solving it. Narcotics trafficking and use lead to violence, undermine productivity,' and rip apart the social fabric of families and communities. Despite much attention to these issues, drug use in this country continues at high levels, even among children.2 We have failed, and it …


Capital Punishment: 21st Century Lynching, Serena L. Hargrove Sep 2001

Capital Punishment: 21st Century Lynching, Serena L. Hargrove

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.


The War On Poverty: A Civilian Perspective, Edgar S. Cahn, Jean C. Cahn Mar 1992

The War On Poverty: A Civilian Perspective, Edgar S. Cahn, Jean C. Cahn

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

This article does two things: it articulates a vision and it lays out a specific blueprint. The core of the vision regards legal representation as "a form of enfranchisement, as an attempt to institutionalize the functions of dissent and criticism, and as a means of revitalizing the democratic process." This explains why the article triggered a movement that was perceived as going beyond the orthodox delivery of legal aid. While others legislate or purport to breath life into the democratic process, lawyers, in their unique role as advocates, discharge a constitutionally protected role. And in light of the retaliation to …